National Infrastructure Council
The National Infrastructure Council (NIC) in Canada is responsible for implementing programs that drive policies and procedures affecting the adoption of standards through the open sharing of data and resources.
In discussions with federal government departments and agencies we discussed their ongoing and progressive projects in support of BIM and openBIM standards in the federal governments. They specifically expressed a desire to participate in a national collaborative BIM program engaging all levels of government, industry and academia in real-world BIM related projects.
Provincial governments as well expressed interest in participating in a national collaborative BIM program. Similarly, as they engage regularly with other levels of government and indigenous communities a national BIM projectbased program that shared information and expertise was of interest to them.
Municipalities interest in BIM was very much focused on linear BIM applications and innovation. In addition, there was considerable interest in how permitting and approvals could be expedited using BIM tools. A project based approach to defining the applications and workflows for BIM through applying real-world projects designed and driven by municipalities and their partners was desirable.
In discussions with indigenous communities they saw great value in the application of BIM technology. As 90% of municipalities are as-built already, the majority of construction in their communities is new build and already existing BIM innovation would be of value to them. In addition, their communities are being tasked with having to comply to both federal and provincial regulation and BIM standards and governance could be very helpful.
Industry recognizes the importance and future of BIM. Having a national collaboration on BIM engaging partners at all levels in real-world BIM projects that will be fully documented, published and available is of great interest.
Academic institutions presently engage independently with the above groups. They felt having a national BIM collaboration environment support real-world projects presents an opportunity for students to take their project work past an academic exercise to real-world implementation.